How to Claim Car Insurance After an Accident?

By Lucy FisherPublished: Sunday, October 11th, 2009

After a car accident, victims have the right to claim property damage to their car, bodily damage, or even both from the negligent driver’s car insurance. A victim of a vehicular accident when claiming payment on the negligent driver’s car insurance has the choice of either he waits for the other party’s car insurance company to offer him a settlement amount for the damages it cause or he can also just write a demand letter.

When claiming it is wise to have good knowledge on how much really is the right amount you should claim. After giving all the requested documentations to the adjuster, you should not be so hasty in agreeing on the first offer of the adjuster. Adjusters are of course educated and well trained on this field, but it is also their job to settle claims as quickly and as cheaply as possible for the insurance company to save money. This means that they will offer you the least possible amount they could offer you. But on the contrary it does not mean that their first offer would be the last.

When you think that the adjuster’s first offer is too low from what you expected, and you are handling the claim by yourself it would be good to take your time. Adjusters have a range on every settlement and they would probably start their offer on the smallest amount. So negotiating back and forth is a good idea, but you must remember that when adjusters have reached their maximum amount there would be no further offers. When this happens and you think the adjuster’s last offer is still lower than what you expected, try negotiating with his superiors, it may be that the adjuster hasn’t convinced his superior that you are entitled to a bigger amount, maybe you can convince them. And if this still doesn’t work, hire an expert lawyer on car accidents and show him all the supporting documents you have; it may be that you are not just a good negotiator. And if going up the chain of command, and hiring a lawyer doesn’t work but you still think you deserve a bigger amount, file a complaint with your state’s Department of Insurance. And if these things still don’t work and you and your attorney think that you really deserve a bigger amount, but still you reached an impasse, maybe it is the time to file a lawsuit and let the court decide.